204 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



art of steering. Well may this be, seeing that 

 there is no other bird with such infinite variety of 

 aerial evolutions ; not one possessing quite such 

 control of wing : its soaring is a matchless sight. 

 To watch a Kite wind and wind, higher yet and 

 higher, till it often becomes a thin brown line 

 stencilled on a blue background, must ever com- 

 mand the keenest admiration. Its wheeling, too, 

 is inimitable exquisite and easy ; even in its 

 ordinary progression it cleaves the air with power- 

 ful but delightfully effortless strokes of its scimitar 

 wings, and that in the teeth of the fiercest gale. Its 

 gliding is reminiscent of some beautifully oiled and 

 rare machine suddenly put in motion. Periodically, 

 too, especially in the spring, a pair sail round one 

 another spirally high in the air, as is a frequent 

 habit of the Buzzard. Sometimes the two species 

 toy in the air together, and I have seen both these 

 birds and the Raven at carrion. In all its varied 

 wingmanship the forked tail plays no mean part. 

 It is almost as good as a third wing, and, being 

 spread to its full, each prong, with cunning twists 

 and turns, helps to entrap the elusive breezes. 



If the sharply-cleft tail is seen, a flying Kite, 

 even at a great distance, may instantly be recognised. 

 Otherwise, the flight is very Buzzard-like. The 

 chief distinction is that the Kite's wings are much 

 narrower and longer, besides being more bent at 

 the carpal joints, which suggest rather sharply 

 pointed elbows. In certain lights the flight is 



